Literature, Writing, and Language   

We will be reading A Yellow Raft in Blue Water by Michael Dorris, a contemporary novel of the American West that tells the story of three generations of Native American women caught between their Indian traditions and the pressures of the modern world.

We approach reading as discovery in a reading community; therefore, some of the reading is done in class so that we encounter the text as a group. We use an approach called “reader response theory,” where meaning is created by the reader. For this reason, we encourage discussion and analysis as an ongoing activity during the reading.

Required Reading: A Yellow Raft in Blue Water by Michael Dorris.

Bygone Badass Broads by MacKenzi Lee features 54 remarkable and forgotten trailblazing women from all over the world. With tales of heroism and cunning, in-depth bios, and witty storytelling, Bygone Badass Broads gives new life to these historic female pioneers. Starting in the fifth century BC and continuing to the present, the book takes a closer look at bold and inspiring women who dared to step outside the traditional gender roles of their time. Coupled with Lee's humorous and conversational storytelling style, this book is an outright celebration of the badass women who paved the way for the rest of us.

Required Reading: Bygone Badass Broads by MacKenzi Lee

As the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary, this course highlights more of the diverse voices that have shaped American art, music, film, and literature. We will read Nella Larsen's Passing, a groundbreaking novel exploring race and identity as matters of perception, and view the film adaptation. We will also examine excerpts from Ann Petry's The Street, the first novel by a Black American woman to sell more than one million copies. In art, we will study both contemporary painters and pioneering artists of color. In music, we will explore Show Boat by Jerome Kern and Oscar Hammerstein II, works by Florence Price, William Grant Still, Davóne Tines, and Angel Blue in Porgy and Bess. We will also read more of Langston Hughes and other influential American poets. Please join me with an open mind and heart.

Required Reading: Passing by Nella Larsen, Penguin Books, ISBN 9780142437278

We will explore Shida Bazyar's powerful and accessible novel (288 pages), shortlisted for the 2026 International Booker Prize. It follows one Iranian family across four decades through four narrators: a young communist gripped by the euphoria of revolution in 1979, a mother adrift in German exile, a teenager returning to a Tehran she barely remembers, and a son watching the 2009 Green Movement erupt on his laptop. Insisting that revolution is not the end but the beginning, the book brings history to life through characters who experienced its aftermath.

Excerpts from the film adaptations of two famous works, Persepolis, based on Marjane Satrapi’s award-winning graphic novel, and Reading Lolita in Tehran, Afar Nafisi’s bestseller, provide historical context that enriches understanding. Join us for a conversation about family and the effects of revolution.

Required Novel: The Nights are Quiet in Tehran by Shida Bazyar, short-listed for 2026 International Booker

This course will read and discuss eight iconic pieces of American short fiction by authors as diverse as Louise Erdrich and Edgar Allan Poe. Although most national literatures include short fiction, the prolific flowering of the short story in 19th-century America caused it to be considered a particularly American art form. Often revealing character through tightly condensed incidents, these stories highlight American culture and values through the decades. This is a peer-led course, which is to say that the co-facilitators and six participants have already agreed to each lead one class on one story. For this reason, each class meeting will vary in presentation and discussion style, reflecting the variety of approaches represented by American short fiction. Each story will be available online or will be provided as a photocopy, so no book is required.

Magic, mystery, shipwreck, betrayal, forgiveness — some of Shakespeare's most astonishing theater. Before attending the DCPA's fall production of The Tempest (October 2–November 1, 2026), join me for an engaging exploration of the play, considered Shakespeare's final masterpiece and perhaps his most innovative work. More than a plot summary, this course will uncover the historical, literary, and theatrical questions that actors and directors wrestle with when bringing The Tempest to life. We'll examine competing interpretations, surprising themes, and the creative choices that shape every production. In five instructional class sessions — plus independent attendance at your expense at the DCPA performance and a final discussion session to analyze and critique the production together — this 6-week course will deepen your appreciation and heighten your anticipation for an unforgettable theatrical experience. Participants will experience a closed-captioned video performance during class, and they may choose to read any full text copy freely available online.

For those attending the DCPA performance, class 6 will take place on Nov. 3 instead of Oct. 27. For those not attending the performance, class will be held on Oct. 27 to view a different video production of The Tempest.

Joe Christmas doesn't know if he's Black or White—and in the Jim Crow South, that uncertainty is lethal. Ruthless, rootless, drifting into Mississippi, he passes as White until his secret lover, a Yankee spinster, is brutally murdered. Betrayed and accused as a Black man, Christmas becomes the target of a vengeful manhunt. Faulkner brackets this dark story between two others: Lena Grove searching for the father of her unborn child, and Reverend Hightower, a disgraced minister haunted by Confederate ghosts. In Faulkner's most straightforward major novel, these entangled tales confront us with persistent, complex issues. Class discussion will include race and gender relations, burdens of history, repressive religious traditions, cultures of violence, and the meaning of community.

Required Text: William Faulkner, Light in August, Vintage International Edition, 507 pages, ISBN 0-679-73226-8, or equivalent. The Audible Modern Vanguard audiobook version narrated by Will Patton is also quite good.

No class on 10/21.

E.M. Forster’s Howard’s End (1910) is sometimes categorized as a “Condition of England” novel because its major concern is the question of which social classes and value systems will prevail in England in the 20th century. The Wilcox family are wealthy and business-oriented; the Schlegel siblings are cultured and intellectual. Mrs. Wilcox dies, leaving their charming country house, named “Howard’s End,” to her new friend Margaret Schlegel. The plot explores the conflicts and connections that develop between two families with very different values. Howard’s End is often included in lists of the best novels of the twentieth-century. Join us as we read, discuss, and examine its implications for our own time.

Required text: Howard’s End, E. M. Forster, Penguin Classics, Intro. by David Lodge, 2000. ISBN: 978-0-14-118213-1

Far too often, we live in a glittering world of masks and illusions, imprisoned by fear and longing for genuine human connection. No one understood this all-too-human tendency as acutely as William Shakespeare. In Much Ado About Nothing, one of his greatest comedies, Shakespeare explores this human struggle and may even suggest a possible way out of this predicament. Using a reading of the play and guided by generous clips from Kenneth Branagh's great film, we will explore not only our capacity for self-imprisonment, but also our real potential for human connection and genuine love.

Required Reading: Shakespeare, William. Much Ado About Nothing. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1993.

Book club and armchair travel! We focus on mysteries with a powerful sense of place, this time exploring the "West" through the eyes of women — both authors and protagonists. A different author and series each week gives us stories to explore “place” as a character and how that location plays into the plot. Choose a couple of books or read one a week from the forthcoming syllabus — but plan to join the wide-ranging discussions every week.

Expectations: You are NOT required to read a book each week but are welcome to do so if you like! Everyone can join the discussion as we start with the book(s) and quickly go off in unexpected directions. Ask questions, share your relevant experiences, suggest additional books that fit and/or illuminate the themes we discover.

Seven Colorado Authors League writers will share their unique paths to becoming published in this fascinating speaker series. Learn about their books, their techniques, their successes, and their failures. Featured authors include the following:

• Jaime Siebrase, Colorado Nature and Guidebook Writer
• Jean Jacobsen, Sweet Historical Romance Writer
• Michele Battiste, Award-Winning Essayist and Poet
• Tricia Copeland, Romance Fantasy Writer and Podcaster
• Ellen Busch, Memoirist, Leadership Coach
• Harry Maclean, New York Times Best-Selling True Crime Writer
• Steve Spangler, Emmy-Winning TV Personality & Science Author

A Q&A session follows each speaker, with an opportunity to try your talents with an optional writing exercise. Please note that these are all different League authors from those who led the 2024–25 classes.